Wellington produce excellent team performance for fine win

Grant Donaldson, Matthew Walker and Paul Hitchcock combined to lift Wellington from the brink of defeat to a four-wicket win over Otago in a State Shield match at the Basin Reserve today which burst into life in the last 10 overs.

Wellington seemed to have only a slim chance of surpassing Otago's total of 268 - built around Andrew Hore's maiden limited overs century - when they found themselves needing 91 runs from the last 10 overs with six wickets in hand.

They had been well behind Otago's scoring rate for most of their innings and they seemed unlikely to be able to accelerate to the degree they had to as the overs remaining to them dwindled.

But Donaldson and Walker - team-mates for New Zealand's champion club side Stokes Valley - and, in the very last gasp, the versatile Hitchcock plundered the Otago bowling through those dying overs and got home with eight balls to spare.

Donaldson made 74 from 70 balls in 84 minutes, Walker 39 in 37 minutes from 25 balls and Hitchcock 16 runs, scoring from each of the six balls he faced, as they made what had seemed an insurmountable task appear mundane.

Wellington had been in trouble, faced with such an imposing total, when they lost Chris Nevin for a scratchy 15 in the sixth over, Matthew Bell for 19 to a wasteful run out in the 14th over and Richard Jones, spectacularly bowled by Craig Cumming, in the 21st over. The loss of Nevin and Jones, who made 27 from 45 balls, hit Wellington particularly hard because they seemed the players best equipped to cope with a target of the magnitude Wellington faced.

But David Sales, the English professional, began an innings repair job when, more patiently than speedily, he made 46 in the middle of the order. He batted more than an hour and a half for those runs, faced 70 balls and hit only two fours but he kept the run rate moving when things had begun to flag.

His partnership of 78 in 55 minutes with Donaldson for the fifth wicket began the turnaround, though when he was out and Wellington were 183/5, they were in the 41st over and still needed 86 runs to win.

Donaldson carried on, growing in confidence as his and the Wellington innings progressed. He followed Sales' lead early on and accumulated runs in singles and twos with accurate pushes mainly into the leg side field.

But as he found the pace of the wicket and began to branch out, with Walker as his partner, he embellished his score and Wellington's with seven boundaries.

Donaldson has not been a conspicuous contributor to Wellington's one-day cause this season but coach Vaughn Johnson and his fellow selectors have retained confidence in the tall right-hander. Johnson said it was only a matter of time before Donaldson found form and he predicted he would be an important member of Wellington teams for a long time to come.

His presence at the crease today straddled the vital part of Wellington's innings and his ability to steadily increase the run rate carried them closer to what had seemed a vital win. He was also involved in the vital overs, with Walker, that truly turned the match.

He took three fours among 13 runs from the 44th over bowled by Nathan McCullum, leaving Wellington needing 61 from six overs. Then Walker took successive sixes from the first two balls of the 45th over, bowled by Chris Gaffaney, added a four from the third ball and a single and Wellington needed 41 from the last five overs.

Both of the sixes travelled over midwicket, the second out of the ground and into rush hour traffic.

Ten runs came from the 46th over, bowled by Kerry Walmsley, and 13 from the 47th bowled by James McMillan, leaving Wellington 20 to win off 18 balls.

Donaldson fell in that over, ending his vital association with Walker, but Hitchcock came to the crease, promoted in the order, and added the last 21 runs with Walker from only 10 balls in eight minutes.

The pair took 14 runs from the 48th over - Walmsley's last - including a six to Hitchcock. They needed seven off the last two overs and took those runs from the first four balls of the 49th, bringing the match to a close at 7.17pm.

Walker was left 39 not out and Hitchcock 16 not out and Wellington, having won eight of their nine round-robin matches and with one remaining in Auckland on Friday, were guaranteed at least a home semi-final. A win over Auckland will propel them straight into the final and will leave Canterbury and Northern Districts to fight out the other finals place.

Hore provided the strength of Otago's innings with his 102 from 103 balls. He put on 154 with Robbie Lawson for the first wicket - a record for Otago in limited overs matches against Wellington.

Lawson made 52 - his 13th one-day half century - and was out in the 28th over. A small collapse ensued and four wickets tumbled for 18 runs, including Hore's in the 34th over. Otago were then 172/4.

Captain Lee Germon revived the innings with 41 from 42 balls, an innings which included four fours but which was much more notable for the urgency of his running between wickets. Wellington might have learned something from observation because their runnings was comparatively poor.

Otago were 107/0 after 20 overs, 141/0 after 25 and 162/3 after 30 and might have managed an even larger score. But that mini collapse after Lawson's dismissal and the loss of five wickets in the last three overs curtailed their score.

Hitchcock took four wickets in his last two overs to finish with four for 52.

Johnson was relieved to see Wellington lift themselves to another win after despairing of them doing so with 40 overs bowled.

"The pro (Sales) batted well and he set the platform," Johnson said. "Then Donaldson and Walker did their jobs and it was an excellent effort chasing 270.

"I was sweating big time around 40 overs but I knew we still had the likes of Walker - we tried to hold him back - and that's what got us there. Sales, Donaldson and Walker got us up."